Two local pro-life groups, Face Life and Palm Beach County
Right to Life said that none of their activists were involved in the
fire. The incident is being investigated by the Lake Worth police
and fire departments, State Fire Marshal's Office, and the
federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 1

2004-JUL-16?: ID: Parental consent law found to be
unconstitutional: A law, passed by the Idaho state legislature in 1999,
was declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court panel. It
required young women under the age of 18 to get parental consent before
they had an abortion unless they had experienced "sudden and
unexpected" physical complications. They ruled that minors are
allowed to undergo other emergency medical procedures that don't meet
this strict condition without first receiving parental permission.
Planned Parenthood, who sponsored the appeal with four abortion
providers, said that most young women do involve their parents in an
abortion decision. However, some minors do not "come from model
families" i.e. some young women fear having to disclose their pregnancy to parents
who might abuse them physically or eject them from the home. 2

2004-JUL-20: USA: Cable channel censors
episode of Degrassi: The N Channel which is owned by
MTV, has been airing episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation.
It deals with students at a fictional Canadian high school. The channel
has decided to delay a two-part episode until they can decide how to
handle them. The episode deals with teen pregnancy and abortion. A
petition objecting to the censorship has gathered 6,000 signatures. It
calls the decision of the channel "unjust and asinine...This episode
does not contain any forceful opinions regarding the subject. [By
delaying the episodes] you are dismissing a substantial part of this
season's plot." The two-part episode deals with "Manny" who
finds out that she is pregnant. After much soul searching, she decides
to have an abortion. She is shown as handling the abortion without
a great deal of guilt. The New York Times commended Degrassi's
"fearless" presentation of the issue when compared to U.S. teen
shows, like Dawson's Creek, The O.C., and Beverly Hills
90210. In those shows, girls who became pregnant considered abortion
but decided to give birth. 3

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2004-JUL-23: MS: State law ruled unconstitutional: A new
Mississippi law would have required late term abortions to be performed
in hospitals or outpatient surgical facilities. Abortions could not be
performed in abortion clinics, after 13 weeks gestation. U.S. District
Judge Tom Lee issued a temporary restraining order on JUL-2 and a
preliminary injunction on JUL-23. He said that the law did nothing to
protect the health of patients. Simon Heller, of the Center For
Reproductive Rights, said that an outpatient clinic without abortion
experience would be less able to assure the safety of their patients
compared to a licensed clinic where the procedure has been done for
years. He said that one result of the law would have been to reduce
access to abortions in the state. 4

2004-AUG-17: TX: Abortion clinic attacked: Somebody fired at
least four gunshots at the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Lufkin, TX, late
on AUG-17 or early AUG-18 at a time when the clinic was closed. The
Lufkin Daily News reports that: "In recent months, the clinic which
is affiliated with Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas,
has attracted the attention of a small group of local anti-abortion
protesters. The 'stand and pray effort' started shortly after the Brazos
Valley Coalition for Life, a Bryan-based anti-abortion group, held a
meeting earlier this summer to speak of their own efforts to close the
PPHSET clinic in Bryan." 5

2004-AUG-31: Paul Hill Memorial Tour
organized: ReverendPaul Hill was convicted of the mass
murder of an abortion provider and his guard in Pensacola FL. Hill was
executed on 2003-SEP-3. According to the ChristianGallery web site, his
"...execution came on the wings of a thunderstorm and
lightning show above the execution chamber, a display of power which all
gathered understood to be a sign from God....Paul Hill defended children
in the womb with the same amount of force we would defend children
outside the womb,” said Drew Heiss, organizer of the Paul Hill Memorial
Tour. The Tour will travel to Tallahassee, Florida on [2004] September
1st and 2nd; and will conclude in Pensacola, Florida on September 3rd,
the date Hill was executed.

The Tour will include public declarations that the deeds of Paul Hill
were good and right, and prayers will be offered to bring the national
sin of abortion to an end.

Tour stops include the State Capitol, Florida State University campus,
and the Pensacola abortion clinic where Hill defended boys and girls
from death." 6

2004-SEP-13: Bill in congress to allow private healthcare
providers to opt out of abortions: A conscience clause has been
added to a key appropriations bill that would ensure that private health
care providers can opt out of providing abortions if they object on
ethical grounds. This bill was attached to a key appropriations bill.
The bill now goes to a joint Senate-House conference committee where the
bill may or not survive. 7

2004-SEP-29: Bill to fund research and
treatment of Post Abortion Syndrome: On 2004-JUN-9,
Representative Joseph Pitts (R-PA) introduced H.R. 4543, a bill to
provide for research on and services for individuals with post-abortion
depression and psychosis (PAS). Its short title is: "Post-Abortion
Depression Research and Care Act." It calls for the National
Institute of Mental Health to "...expand and intensify research
and related activities....with respect to post-abortion depression and
post-abortion psychosis .... referred to as 'post-abortion conditions'."
The bill has a total of 32 sponsors, all Republicans. Many religious
conservatives promote the belief that PAS is a widespread and
debilitating phenomenon. Pro-choice groups and medical professionals
generally regard PAS as extremely rare. What little information that is
available on PAS is that it is rare, but does occur among some women who
are pressured into having an abortion, and/or who have changed their
beliefs and regard abortion to be murder. A hearing in the House was
conducted on 2004-SEP-29. 8 More details.